Closings

Severe Weather

PHOTOS: Jodi Arias murder case

Salinas native Jodi Arias murdered her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in his Arizona home on June 4, 2008. She was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013.

Arias was spared the death penalty on March 5, 2015 after jurors deadlocked on whether she should be executed. It marked the second time a jury was unable to reach a decision on her punishment - a disappointment for prosecutors who argued for the death penalty during a nearly seven-year legal battle.

Jurors were 11-1 in favor of the death penalty and tried unsuccessfully to get the lone holdout kicked off the panel. One male juror said he was angry with the female holdout juror.

Arias was born in Salinas, Calif. on July 9, 1980 and grew up there until she was 12. Her family later moved to Yreka, Calif.

Arias was hired in 2001 to work at the Ventana Inn & Spa, a luxury hotel perched above the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur.

She fell in love with the man who hired her, Darryl Brewer, and they lived in Big Sur together from 2002 until 2006. Arias broke up with Brewer soon after she met Travis Alexander in Las Vegas.

On June 3, 2008, the day before she murdered Alexander, Arias stopped in Monterey and Salinas.

She visited Brewer at his house in Monterey and he let her borrow two gas cans. Arias told Brewer she needed the gas for a long drive, and then bought a third gas can in Salinas.

Arias drove from the Monterey Peninsula to Alexander's house in Mesa, Arizona, where the two had sex and snapped X-rated photos of eachother.

Alexander was a Mormon who told his friends and family that he was a virgin.

Evidence seized by investigators, however, show that was far from the truth. A camera found at the murder scene contained sexually explicit photos of Alexander and Arias together. Investigators believe some photos of Alexander nude in a shower were snapped just hours before he was slain.

When she was first arrested, Arias did handstands and sang to herself when officers stepped out of the police station's interrogation room.

Arias initially told police that she had nothing to do with her ex-lover's death. Later, she blamed it on two masked intruders armed with knifes. Two years after her arrest, she said she did it, and it was self-defense.

Arias converted to the Mormon religion after meeting Alexander. Alexander was a lifelong Mormon and he attended Arias' baptism.

Arias was often compared to Florida mother Casey Anthony. But Wednesday's verdict was starkly different from the fate received by Anthony, who was freed from jail after the jury found her not guilty in her daughter's slaying.

This is a photo of Anthony the day she walked free.

Prosecutors said after Alexander broke up with Arias and began dating other women, she began plotting his death.

Arias spent 18 days testifying and describing her abusive childhood, cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a shocking sexual relationship with Alexander, and her contention that he was physically abusive in the months leading to his death.

Arias said she ran into Alexander's closet, (shown here), grabbed his gun, and shot him in self defense. She testified that she did not remember stabbing him.

Jodi Arias changed her hair color from blond to brown and began wearing glasses for her murder trial.

Minutes after a jury convicted her on May 8, 2013, Arias told a reporter in the courthouse that she preferred the death penalty over life in prison. With tears in her eyes, she said she felt overwhelmed and surprised because she didn't believe she committed first-degree murder.

Arias said she would "prefer to die sooner than later," and that "death is the ultimate freedom."

This was Arias' reaction when the jury's guilty verdict was read on May 8, 2013. She showed little emotion and did not cry.

Jodi Arias, left, murdered Travis Alexander, right, by shooting him in the head and stabbing him nearly 30 times, prosecutors said.

Arias is 32 years old and has already spent five years in jail.

After he was slain on June 4, 2008, Alexander's body was dragged into a shower and left there inside his Mesa, Arizona home.

Second penalty phase begins in the Jodi Arias trial today.

Jodi Arias' murder trial lasted from January until May.

Arias changed her hair color from blond to brown and began wearing glasses for her murder trial.

Alexander's mother and other family members buried their faces in their hands, sobbed, and stared at the ground to avoid seeing the gruesome crime scene photos. Arias also averted her eyes.

Jodi Arias' murder trial lasted from January until May.

Jodi Arias' mug shot

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.